Women in Sports: Progress and Obstacles

            The world of sport presents numerous opportunities for society to rise above the stereotypes surrounding gender, race, and national differences. Women in sports defy such prejudices by championing equality between sexes and influencing people’s acceptance of female-led competitions (Thomas & Thariyan, 2018). Over the years, female athletes have become more active in sporting events. For example, while only 22 of 997 female athletes completed their games in the 1990 Summer Paris Olympics, all women participants finalized their tournaments in the 2012 London Olympics (Woods, 2016). Despite this indication of progress, women contestants have yet to attain equal treatment compared to their male counterparts. Enduring challenges that dampen the reception and pay given to female athletes have distracted the public from recognizing the immense potential that sports have to bring about women’s empowerment and global development. women in sports

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            Across the world, female sportspersons contend with the gender gap that engulfs most, if not all, types of sports. Despite them becoming professional athletes, women competitors rarely attract the degree of investment and payouts that their male contestants receive (Thomas & Thariyan, 2018). During the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, for example, the prize money for the champions was about $2 million, which was substantially lesser than the over $50 million that the male 2014 World Cup victors received (Williams and Hess, 2015). Furthermore, given that only 22 (24.4%) women are members of the International Olympic Committee, Williams and Hess (2015) find that this gender occupies fewer leadership positions in most sporting establishments. Overall, such discrepancies in pay and representation of the female gender speak to the obstacles that women athletes have to struggle with through the coming decade.

            Although the inclusion of female participants in modern sports has increased substantially, recognition of their athletic ability has failed to attain a comparable level of success in the eyes of the public and media. Women sports professionals not only receive considerably less media coverage but also suffer inappropriate treatment, which mostly involves sexual objectification by media and disrespect by male peers in similar careers (Woods, 2016). For instance, ESPN only reserved 2% of airtime for broadcasting women’s competitions in 2014 (Woods, 2016). Moreover, media houses portray women in increasingly stereotypical ways by criticizing them for either lacking in athletic ability or being too masculine (Thomas & Thariyan, 2018). Evidently, the sexual and visual appeal of women sports professionals has become more important to media outlets than their in-field performance and conduct.    

            Changing the public’s view of the professionalism and capability of female sportspersons requires an increased awareness of women’s rights and gender equality. I would advise policymakers in the sports industry to collaborate with an institution such as Women’s Sports Foundation when devising ways to eradicate these challenges. The organization devotes its efforts and resources toward eradicating gender inequality and promoting the authenticity of women sports (Woods, 2016). Forming partnerships with such an establishment would enable governing sports bodies from different parts of the globe to adopt educational programs aimed at empowering women in the sports industry.  

            Naturally, the pay gap between both genders and the unsuitable depiction of women by media houses may demoralize them and lead to low self-esteem. There is a dire need for the public to shift from recognizing sporting activities as undertakings primarily reserved for the male gender.  Viewing the world of sport in this way has allowed inequalities in payment of women athletes and media biases in representing them to manifest increasingly. Eliminating these drawbacks requires a global awareness of women rights, including their entitlement to engage in any type of sport.      

References

Thomas, T., & Thariyan, P. (2018). Sports as a catalyst in women empowerment. Asian Journal             Of Multidimensional Research (AJMR), (2), 719-724.

Williams, J., & Hess, R. (2015). Women, football and history: International perspectives.      International Journal of the History of Sport, 32(18), 2115-2122.      doi:10.1080/09523367.2015.1172877

Woods, R. B. (2016). Social issues in sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.